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<title>i've single-handed some duets by voodoochild</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138349">i've single-handed some duets</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/voodoochild/pseuds/voodoochild'>voodoochild</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Communication, Gen, Vignette, i am really weak for tag team wrestling shorthand, or kyle/bobby because let's be real i'm always going to be redragon trash, this is pretty gen but you could read it as ot4, this is way more than 3 sentences but i have a lot of feelings okay?, three sentence ficathon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:34:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/voodoochild/pseuds/voodoochild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyle muses on communication, brotherhood, and tag team wrestling, prompted by Finn Balor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i've single-handed some duets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for rthstewart's 3 Sentence Ficathon 2021 for the prompt <a href="https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/166704.html?thread=8898864#cmt8898864">any, a nonverbal conversation</a>. Title is from Dessa's "Shrimp".</p><p>Takes place during the main event and final moments of the 1/27/21 episode of NXT, spoilers ahoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everyone tells Kyle tagging with a new partner is like learning to speak another language, and Kyle thinks that's ridiculous; it didn't happen when he left Adam and started working with Davey, and it didn't happen when Davey turned his back on Kyle. Tagging was easy, simple, you just take two singles styles and swap them out, right?</p><p>Wrong. </p><p>He didn't know what tagging was until he met Bobby, until he saw a viciousness that could match his own, and a calculating nature that would smooth his rougher edges. He and Bobby do have their own language, all the true teams do - because Total Elimination always leaves them wanting more despite the blood in their teeth and one squeeze after a dicey spot is *bad* but two squeezes is <i>I'm okay</i> and sometimes he can't stop lashing out after a match unless he feels Bobby's hand on the back of his neck - and it's so simple to extend it to Adam and Roddy, because brothers share.</p><p>He thinks tagging with Finn will be simple. Tagging with Finn is like walking uphill through mud, because Finn doesn't understand the double-tap to the post that means "pick up the fucking pace" and he doesn't watch Kyle like a hawk (like Bobby) to spot cheap shots or tag opportunities. It's like waking up alone after a lover walks out. Kyle slogs and pushes and reaches the top and he still doesn't know if the climb was worth it, but fucking Dunne is back and Finn is standing alongside them in Bobby's place.</p><p>(And Finn knows that this isn't right; knows he's an ally for the night and that while he and Kyle share a mutual respect born of shattered jaws and meals through straws, he cannot lay claim to over fourteen years of loyalty or the bond that only comes when you know a man's body better than your own.)</p><p>Adam looks at Roddy, and they both look at Kyle, and the sentiment is clear: <i>don't you dare trust the Prince, he's not one of us.</i></p><p>Kyle thinks Finn seems to get it - knows there is no fifth wheel - and leaves. Roddy reaches over to grip Kyle's shoulder (the one Burch half-wrenched out of joint, and it's to check Kyle over as much as it is to comfort him) and Adam's hand finds the pulse in Kyle's wrist (<i>blood sugar okay? need any help? lean on me until the camera swings back, because you've gotta look tough for this last spot</i>).</p><p>Kyle and his brothers close ranks, because the Era still stands tall and it's only a matter of time before they're four again.</p>
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